The Beauty and the Dude
The Beauty and the Dude - meaning Summary
Surface and Social Comedy
Lawson’s short comic vignette sketches a strikingly pretty woman and a well-dressed man who meet and flirt in the street. The speaker delights in their bright, fragrant appearance while simultaneously signaling mild irony—he won’t be rude but seems skeptical of their value. The poem gently satirizes surface attraction and social display, using light, repetitive phrasing to emphasize the pair’s showy, possibly shallow charm.
Read Complete AnalysesA fresh sweet-scented beauty Came tripping down the street; She was as fair a vision As you might chance to meet. A masher raised his cady (I don’t want to be rude) He raised it to the lady That fresh sweet-scented dude. They met and talked and simpered And giggled in the street; They were as bright a vision As you might wish to meet. I don’t know what they’re good for, But don’t want to be rude To the fair sweet-scented beauty Or the well-upholstered dude.
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